Football pundit Phil Thompson has told Sky Sports that he expects Aston Villa to get promoted to the Premier League next season.

The former Liverpool player has predicted Wolverhampton Wolverhampton Wanderers and Cardiff City, the top two teams in the Championship, to gain promotion as well.

Wolves are top of the Championship table with 79 points, three points ahead of Cardiff City in second. These two are almost certain to gain automatic promotion to the Premier League next season.

For the remaining final position there is a stiff competition among several teams. Aston Villa are third in the table with seven points behind Cardiff, followed by Fulham, Derby County and Middlesbrough.

Villa’s automatic promotion hopes suffered a huge blow in the midweek when they lost 3-1 against Queens Park Rangers at home.

However, Thompson is confident that Villa will make the final cut because they possess too much quality in their side, and can deliver when it really matters.

“Then anything can happen in the play-offs and I know it was a bad result against QPR, but I think Aston Villa have too much quality for the others when it comes to delivering when it really matters,” said Thompson to Sky Sports.

Villa will travel to Macron Stadium to face a struggling Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, and they will be looking to get back to winning ways.